17 replies to this topic

[awarner]

Hi all
Right first off I know nothing about laptops,
I build PC's etc for a hobby but I've never touched a laptop.

I want to buy a secondhand one for wirless networking to my
BB connection so I can be with the family but still live on this site  :oops:
as this it my extended family  :wink:  well feel like it anyway.

The question is.... What would be the lowest spec I should look for
and what sort of price???
What are peoples frefered makes?

Cheers all

Ashley

[PaulOBrien]

I have an IBM Thinkpad, not the flashest laptop in the world, but it's as tough as old boots

This is a PIII-733 with 512MB RAM, minimum I would accept nowadays really!

P

[Monolithix]

I have a Sony Vaio FX-801, 1.2ghz athlon xp, 256meg mem 20gig hdd.  Solid as a rock, I get 4-5 weeks+ uptime onit and it still runs sweet.  Only fallback is a shitty gfx card and max res of 1024x768 :/

I wouldn't go for lower than a 1ghz cpu/256meg mem/20gig hdd.  Which you should be able to get easily for 800-1000 quid

Preferred makes, Sony/Tosh/Dell.  Thinkpads look shite imho ;p

[awarner]

Cheers so far, but I am on a serious budget
so I do really need to look at second hand jobbies  :cry: .
I have seen in pc world (yes I know I'm swearing )
their prices start from £800 but that's a little to high for me.
So what would you pay for second hand?

[idoru]

Hi,

you should check out http://www.ebay.co.uk to see how much ppl are selling theirs for.

I would have to recommend a toshiba as the support is excellent and I never had problems with it unlike my previous dell latitude and fujitsu.

If all you want the laptop for is to use the net plus maybe some wordprocessing (not software development) then I recommend 700 mhz up + 128 Meg Ram up running WinXP of some kind. You shouldn't spend more than 400 to 500 pounds sterling for that.

[HelloDave]

I've got an old Toshiba Satellite P233, 64Mb RAM, 4GB HDD which has worked perfectly for 5 years now and even the battery is still going strong! It's a low spec nowadays, but perfectly adequate for browsing the web and with laptops this old a lot of people are willing to give them away! The main problem with it is that its got a DSTN screen so you can't see it in any remotely bright light and it ghosts like a b*tch, but it's a decent size at 12.1", even if 800*600 is a bit of a low resolution now i'm used to my 17" CRT!

I don't know if you've read my other post but i'd say avoid HP (bad design) and unbranded generic laptops - they're the only types i've ever seen broken, and i've seen a lot of Toshibas! If you do get a secondhand one, although this sounds obvious, check for signs of abuse - dented or cracked plastics, dirty screens, any removable parts not fitting etc. New parts are very expensive, and repairs are often not viable, so make sure you get a good one!

[PaulOBrien]

Spending your winnings Ashley?

P

[HelloDave]

So your budget is £665 then :wink:

There's an irony in there somewhere - you win money from a website and then spend it on a laptop to be able to visit that site more easily!

[Will]

Secondhand laptops, my favourite can of worms!


Sorry I get this question asked all the time..

Think about your last / old pc? was it a k6 500 or maybe slower? did you surf the net, word process etc ok on it..

So why spend shedloads on a 2nd hand laptop, that probably has an overheating/memory/hdd fault on it (most hi spec cheap secondhand ones do in my experience).

I've picked up k6 500/600 64mb/128mb style laptops, in need of new batteries (about 80 quid) (unless you can always plugin to a wall socket). for 100-200 quid Check out local paper/auctions and ebay etc, and best of all they are usually quite rugged, and cheap enough to dump, lend, take travelling.

Basically unless you want to play games and stuff (and most laptop graphics cards are poor). WHY PAY MORE??

Will

[awarner]

Quote

"]Spending your winnings Ashley?

Not really I'm pretending to spend some time with the family
I've got my wireless router up and running so I want the laptop for the lounge  

[casper508]

Ashley I would suggest British Computer Fairs and there's one coming ur way soon.

Check here: Southampton BCF

I've been visiting these fairs regularly for three years and have bought PC stuff (new and used) at very competitive prices.

Two of my mates bought very decent spec laptops (PIII, 600-800Mhz, 15-20Gb HD) at around 500 quid and not to forget that one can always haggle them down.


Hope this helps.

Cheers
Cas

[Firaas]

Try http://www.morgan-auctions.co.uk or http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk if you'd rather buy outright.

Using the net wirelessly might be a pain with a slow laptop though...

[awarner]

Quote

Ashley I would suggest British Computer Fairs and there's one coming ur way soon.  

That's my favourite haunt
in Southampton.

[Firaas]

£740 above your budget?

http://www.morgancom...&SubCategoryID=

Toshiba 1.5GHz with 128mb SDRAM and 20gb hard drive - £740.24

Or http://www.morgancom...&SubCategoryID=

Dell 650MHz with 128mb SDRAM and 6gb hard drive - £622.74

[imp]

I have an Apple PowerBook G4 Titanium 500 MHZ, 512 MB RAM, 20 GB HD with Mac OS X Jaguar... It's VERY stable! Everything works really really good!
With the new Safari browser browsing the internet is very fast and easy... It's much better than Internet Explorer... And it still shows the sites correctly...

Well... Heh... It's probably a lot more expencive than how much you want to spend...

[HelloDave]

Quote

I have an Apple PowerBook G4

Poor you :wink:

[Shuflie]

If he can afford a Powerbook I'd hardly call him 'poor', then again maybe he is now  

[imp]

Heh... Actually it's not poor me... It works perfectly and can easyly be set up with the Windws networks... Also it's much easier to set up as an FTP-server...

But, ok, if I only had a mac then poor me, 'cause then I wouldn't be able to use my SPV... I also have a normal desktop computer from Compaq... Works ok, but not at all as stable as my mac...
My girlfriend has a Compaq laptop so it's not that bad at all... But I can tell you this; I wouldn't give up my PowerBook, ever!

//imp